Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🦨 To have an odor 🦨 An odor 👃 To detect a scent 👃 Ability to detect scents 🕵️ To sense suspicion 🌫️ A feeling in the air 💻 A software problem
to smell

to smell

∞ 1.0
To give off a scent that is pleasant or bad
  • verb
  • /smɛl/
: oler
  • Whenever I cook pasta, the garlic smells so good that it fills the entire house.
  • smell bad
  • smell foul
  • smell of alcohol

I also smell, it just smells so bad.

Autoplay Next

Examples

Synonyms

to stink
vsto smell
157 1.0

To have a very bad smell

can be pleasant or unpleasant rather than always unpleasant
to give off
vsto smell
57 2.6

To send out something like a smell, light, or heat

is about having a particular odor, pleasant or unpleasant
to stink to high heaven
vsto smell
  • Informal
5 8.1

Have a very strong bad smell or seem very wrong

is milder in degree and can be merely noticeable rather than extreme
to stink like a mackerel
vsto smell
  • Informal
9.9

Have a very strong smell like old fish or seem clearly suspicious

is neutral about suspicion, focusing only on how the odor smells

Idioms

to smell blood
  • Informal
9 7.4

To see someone's weakness and act quickly to get an advantage

to smell fishy
  • Informal
5 6.8

To seem suspicious or dishonest

to stop and smell the roses
  • Informal
4 4.6

To take time to enjoy small pleasant things in life

to wake up and smell the coffee
  • Informal
3 7.3

Realize an unpleasant truth and stop ignoring it

to pass the smell test
  • Informal
3 7.8

Seem honest and believable when people check it

smell you later
  • Informal
3 9.9

To say goodbye in a playful, joking way

to smell like a rose
  • Informal
3 6.1

To appear in a good way after a problem

to smell the barn
  • Informal
1 9.7

To feel the end of a trip or task is near

smell of the lamp
  • UK
9.9

A sign that someone works late and studies hard, or the smell of an oil lamp

to smell like a tart's handbag
  • NSFW
9.9

To have a strong, unpleasant scent of old heavy perfume and dampness

Phrasal Verbs

to smell up
4 7.5

Make a place or thing smell bad

to smell out
3 5.1

Find something hidden by noticing small signs

Compounds

sense of smell
29 2.8

The ability to notice and tell scents apart with the nose

new-car smell
6 3.7

A pleasant smell inside a brand new car

smell test
4 3.8

A quick check to see if something seems right, sometimes by its scent

smell of success
4 3.9

A feeling that you have done well and feel proud

musty smell
3 3.4

A bad, stale smell from damp or old things

pungent smell
2 3.3

A strong sharp smell that makes your eyes water

fishy smell
2 2.6

A strong unpleasant smell like fish

smell-o-vision
1 9.9

A way to make people smell scents while watching films or TV

lingering smell
1 3.2

A smell that stays for a long time

dank smell
1 5.1

An unpleasant damp smell in places like basements or cellars

yucky smell
  • Informal
1 5.6

A strong, nasty smell like rotten food that makes you feel sick

dank smell
  • NSFW
1 9.6

A strong smell of cannabis smoke or buds

pestilential smell
  • Literature
1 9.4

A very strong bad air that makes you think of rotting things or disease

new-car smell
1 4.1

A feeling that something is fresh and new, not a real smell

How Strong

to reek
49 5.9
to stink
157 1.0
to smell
∞ 1.0
to emit
128 4.4
to give off
57 2.6

Surface Forms

smell infinitive
smelled past
smelled past participle
smelling present participle
smells third person singular

Etymology

Smell (to give off an odor) comes from the old English smellan, 'to sniff', and was used to say that things 'give off' a scent, which is why we say 'the bread smells good' when it gives a nice odor.